The Virgin Birth of the Virgin Mary
Again, these words of the Virgin Mary about the anniversary of the Crucifixion do not directly reveal the
date of the Crucifixion. However, she does, by these same words, reveal the length of the life of her Divine Son
Jesus. Mary was speaking in terms of the current calendar, which was set up so that
A.D.
1 would be the year
that Christ completed one year of life from His Incarnation, and
A.D.
33 would be the year that Christ
completed 33 years of life from His Incarnation. Therefore, speaking in terms of that calendar system, if Christ
died in
A.D.
33, then He would have completed just over 33 years of life from His Holy Conception to His
Crucifixion. The visions given to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich also indicate that Jesus was just over 33
years old, counting from the Incarnation, when He was crucified.
The Time of Mary's Birth
According to Blessed Anne Catherine, the Virgin Mary was born about midnight. Anna did not go to bed,
but prayed, and at midnight woke the other women to pray with her.
530
Saint Ann and the other women
prayed, and during their prayers, the Virgin Mary was born by a miracle of God. Blessed Anne Catherine
clearly describes the birth of the Virgin Mary as both miraculous and virginal, and clearly not the usual
manner of birth. (The theology of the Virgin Birth of Mary is described in greater detail in my booklet, the
Virginity of Jesus and Mary.)
531
The Virgin Mary's birth occurred at the same hour as the Birth of Jesus Christ, at
about midnight, which is the beginning of the day according to the Christian calendar.
Notice that the time of Mary's birth (midnight) and the time of her death (3 p.m.; see chapter 10), as well as
the time of her Resurrection (before dawn; see chapter 10), are the same as the time of day for these events in
the life of her Divine Son Jesus Christ. Mary's life is a reflection of the life of Jesus Christ, even to the extent
that some of the important events of her life happened at the same time of day as with her Son Jesus. In God's
plan, the life of the Virgin Mary is a perfect imitation of the life of Jesus Christ.
The Day of the Week
The Virgin Mary was born on a Tuesday. This may surprise some people who expect that important events
in Jesus and Mary's lives most likely occurred on Christian or Jewish Sabbaths. But the month and day of the
Virgin Mary's birth is quite certain, since she said so herself at Medjugorje. And the year, 30
B.C.
, is clear from
the arguments presented in this book about the rebuilding of the Temple and the year of Christ's Birth. In 30
B.C.
, August 5 was a Tuesday.
532
Further support for Tuesday as the day of the Virgin Mary's birth is found in Blessed Anne Catherine's
descriptions of the events surrounding that day. She mentions that Joachim and his servants went out to work
in the fields the day before.
533
That day could not have been a Sabbath, because devout Jews did not work on
the Sabbath. And there is no mention of a refrain from work, or of particular Jewish religious celebrations, in
her description of the three days after the Virgin Mary's birth. Also, many people are said to have traveled to
visit the new born Virgin Mary in the 3 days after her birth, with no mention of a cessation of travel for the
Sabbath. There is also no indication in Blessed Anne Catherine's words that the day of Mary's birth was a
Jewish Sabbath. If the day before, the three days after, and the day of the Virgin Mary's birth were not a
Sabbath (Saturday), then she must have been born on either a Monday or a Tuesday. August 5 of 30
B.C.
was
a Tuesday.
534
In 30
B.C.
, August 5 coincided with the Jewish date of Av 26.
535
The fifth month of the Jewish sacred
calendar is called Av. (The first month of the sacred calendar is Nisan, the month containing Passover.)
The Virgin Mary's Naming Day
Sacred Scripture describes the day on which John the Baptist was given his name:
Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and
kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day
they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother
said, `Not so; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, `None of your kindred is called by this name.'
And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet,
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